


Only Hope

by A (AILiSeki)



Series: VFD Politics [2]
Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: VFD Schism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-13 17:29:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21188660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AILiSeki/pseuds/A
Summary: So, I wanted to write about the Denouements’ recruitment and its background according to my hcs, which aren’t this (or at least weren’t, I actually liked this). I don’t know what happened. The story just became something else.Also fun fact: the way the Firestarters are portrayed here follows my series, Burning Bridge, and the next story (still being written) in it will have more on the threats, the way Firestarters organize, and I(shmael) being an informant/double agent!





	Only Hope

“They are coming for us.” The husband said.

The wife turned to look at him from her place by the door, from where she was watching the children.

“You don’t know that.” She said, stern. “We did nothing to those traitors.”

The husband shook his head, and reached for a cigarette.

“It doesn’t matter what we did. They want to destabilize the organization by getting rid of those with more influence in the decisions. The Council, the Boards, they want us all gone.” He lit the cigarette. “I’ve had some private conversations with the informant. We are on the target list.”

“Why hasn’t he told the Council? He has been insisting he doesn’t know who the targets are.” The wife said, frowning.

“He lied.” The husband said. “Partially, at least. The truth is that those ‘firestarters’, or whatever is it that they call themselves, suspect I. to be the informant. So I. is trying to play it safe. He told the Council that they will target influent and powerful volunteers, but kept his mouth shut about the names.”

The wife let it sink in. I. had been their only source of information on the traitor group, besides the threats that had been sent. The Council had a few suspects but everything pointed to the numbers on their side being big. They had been organizing for a long time below everyone’s noses.

“Why doesn’t I. just tell who they are, so we can get this dealt with?”

“Because he doesn’t know who they all are.” The husband said. “No one knows, not even their own members.”

“How can they plan a coup without even knowing who is on their side?”

“It’s a fragmentary plan. We learned about these in basic training.” The husband said, his eyes following the smoke from his cigarette. “Except I. thinks they may not even have a leader. But even so, they know everything we do.”

The wife took a look at the children from the door, and turned back to her husband.

“Then we can’t just wait for them to come. We have to take the children and go somewhere safe.”

“They will find us.” The husband said. “They are hidden among us, darling. If we tell anyone where we’re going, they will find us.”

“We won’t tell anyone.” The wife said. “We will change the car’s plate, get some disguises-“

“Don’t you get it?” He interrupted her, almost loud enough for the children to hear. He took a moment to calm himself. “We are not talking about common outlaws here. They are _volunteers_, just like us. They know our methods, our safe places, our codes, our disguises. They have learned the same as we did. We can’t use the same strategy as always this time.”

“What do you suggest we do then?” The wife asked, feeling more distressed each second.

“They will find us no matter what we do.” He said. “But they want us, not the children.”

The woman’s eyes widened as she understood what he meant.

“My sister.”

“What?” He asked, confused.

“My sister is a recruiter. She can take the children somewhere safe.”

It was a great idea, if the woman said so herself. Recruitment secrets were the best-kept secrets in the organization.

“They’re five tomorrow.” The husband said, suddenly hesitant. “They’re not ready to be recruited.”

“They will be in a safe place and someone will watch over them.” The wife said. “No one, not even us, will know where they are. Plus, it’s not like they will send some five-years-old boys on a mission. They will just be safe.”

The husband put off his cigarette. “I guess. I was thinking of something on the lines of a boarding school.”

“A boarding school can’t do anything for them after we’re gone. The organization can.”

The husband nodded. “You are right. It sounds like the best way.”

* * *

The wife held her breath as she heard the car going away, each second the sound quieter. She looked at the three balloons with the number 5 painted on them.

“Regretting it already?” The husband asked, looking at the same balloons. They knew their sons wouldn’t get to enjoy their party, but they had to do the decorations even so, so they wouldn’t suspect anything was wrong.

“No.” The wife said. “It was the right thing to do. They will be safe now.”

“Safe from everyone.” The husband said, and then lowered his voice. “Everyone except VFD.”

The wife nodded. “So, it is not just about money. At some point, you really forgot all this organization did for you.”

The husband looked at her, confused for a moment. “When did you find out?”

“You have been speaking strangely for a while now. You think you are so discreet but your opposition to the organization was very clear to me. I am not stupid, darling.” She didn’t move as she spoke. It was as if she was talking about what to prepare for dinner. “You didn’t want the children here so they wouldn’t see you killing me.”

“I didn’t want them here so they wouldn’t see the fight we would have.”

The wife put her hand in her pocket, and took out a small gun.

“Don’t worry, darling. If it depends on me, they will never know their father was a traitor.”

“If it depends on me, they will never know anything about this organization.” The husband said, taking a lighter from his own pocket. “Well, any more than your sister will have told them in forty-five minutes.”

“I am trained in fire escape.” The wife said, somewhat offended by his weapon choice.

“Oh, this?” The husband said, holding the lighter up. “Not my choice. It’s more for sending the message. Also for those documents in the library.” He took a step behind and grabbed from the table the knife they would use for the cake. It was smaller than he remembered. “This... will have to do for you.”

It wasn’t a big deal for him to use two weapons when he could use both hands equally well.

The wife shot at him, but he managed to dodge.

“You should remember I am trained in dodging bullets.” The husband said. “And it’s easier when you are not aiming for a vital organ.”

“Sorry, darling. Next, I will aim for your head.”

He smirked.

“Now, that’s my girl.”

Shoots were fired and stabbing was attempted, but fire won. The volunteers who arrived the next morning had a hard time telling what exactly took place, and the official record would say the place was invaded by traitors who executed the couple. The children would only hear that their parents did in a fire that destroyed their home.

**Author's Note:**

> So, I wanted to write about the Denouements’ recruitment and its background according to my hcs, which aren’t this (or at least weren’t, I actually liked this). I don’t know what happened. The story just became something else. 
> 
> Also fun fact: the way the Firestarters are portrayed here follows my series, Burning Bridge, and the next story (still being written) in it will have more on the threats, the way Firestarters organize, and I(shmael) being an informant/double agent!


End file.
